Ronde Barber retiring instead of playing backup for Bucs

May 9, 2013
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by Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports

by Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports

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It was an easy decision, in the end, for Ronde Barber to call it a career after 16 NFL seasons.

"Now don't get me wrong, if (GM) Mark (Dominik) and (coach) Greg (Schiano) would've said, 'Hey, we absolutely need you to play, you played great last year, here's X amount of dollars, come play, we need youâ?¦' That wasn't necessarily the case," Barber told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday morning, a few hours before he'll officially announce his decision to retire from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a press conference. "They're reshaping that football team. You're spending a quarter of a billion in free agents in two years, they're definitely going in a new direction.

"But that wasn't a factor. I've had that conversation with Mark the past couple of years about them needing to sign guys for the future and put players on this team again. Let's be honest, we have a hard time drawing (fans) in this town, so those additions for us are almost essential."

Barber has played in 240 consecutive regular-season games, tied with Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher for the longest active streak. Fletcher will get to 241; Barber will not.

That said, the Buccaneers would've welcomed him back. However, it would've been as a backup and rotational player in a secondary that now includes free-agent safety Dashon Goldson and former New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who was acquired in a trade.

If Barber had been asked to return as a starter, it might've been enough to lure him back.

"Possibly. That would've made it a little bit harder of a decision, obviously," Barber said. "But that wasn't the case. They wanted me to play, I don't doubt that at all. I had open lines of communication with Mark the past couple of years about continuing to play.

"At the end, it was me deciding I didn't need football as much as I once did and it was time to venture into a new thing."

The new thing will be a broadcasting career, though Barber has yet to divulge the details of which network he'll join and what type of role he'll play.

This week will be a time for him to reflect upon a career that includes that streak of regular-season games played (plus nine more in the postseason), 47 career interceptions, 14 touchdowns on interception, fumble and kick returns, a Super Bowl ring and 1,025 tackles.

That last stat is one in which he takes great pride. Cornerbacks in the modern NFL often don't like sticking their facemask into a running back's chest when he gets to the edge. Barber did, and he laughed when he recalled how a 260-pound Brandon Jacobs drove him into the ground during a game against the New York Giants in 2006.

The ability, the toughness, the skill, the longevity. Will it all be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame one day?

"Oh man, that's tough. At the end of any career, the numbers and the plays should speak for themselves," Barber said. "There are a lot of people out there that say yes, there are a lot of people out there who say no. I'll just say it's good to be able to have the debate. There are a lot of good players that aren't in that debate, and I'm happy to be in it."

Barber said one debate that was easy for him to settle was the one between his body and his mind over whether to play a 17th season. In late March and early April when he thought about the work needed to put in during the offseason and realized he was "pretty content not to do that anymore." He added, "It just got to the point where what was coming out of it wasn't worth what I was putting into it."

Barber saw the potential for this year's Buccaneers team and said he's "happy for the moves we've made," and is not bitter about them.

Asked if Schiano's grinding style factored in to his decision, Barber laughed and said, "Not really, although I did have probably the hardest preseason last year since I was a rookie in the league. That's just the way he's approaches his job and molding his team. It's a shock to your system when you first get that, but Greg and I had a great relationship. He's a really good guy. I applaud his vision on what he wants this football team to be."

Barber had discussions with Schiano and Dominik. He also spoke to his brother Tiki, whose retirement didn't go as planned when he walked away at the age of 30 to pursue a broadcasting career. Tiki tried to make a comeback in the NFL recently but was unable to do so and is now back in broadcasting with CBS Sports Radio.

Ronde said Tiki's struggles in retirement encouraged him to play as long as possible. Ronde also talked to former Bucs safety John Lynch, who played four seasons with the Denver Broncos, and defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who finished his career with the Oakland Raiders.

"I played it out like I wanted to," Barber said. "Not until the wheels came off because the wheels definitely aren't off. But I got enough out of football and football's gotten enough from me."